Ricciardo looking forward to Suzuka return

Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool

Daniel Ricciardo, of RB, is ‘looking forward to hitting the track’ in Japan after he missed the Japanese Grand Prix last year due to injury. 

Ricciardo has said that he is looking forward to hitting the Suzuka circuit on Friday after missing it last year, due to his broken wrist. 

In his half-season return last year, replacing the under-performing Nyck de Vries at Alpha Tauri – as they were then known, Ricciardo could not compete in last year’s edition of the Japan race due to breaking his wrist in Zandvoort. 

With no such problem for the Australian driver this season, Ricciardo is looking forward to his return to the iconic Suzuka circuit. 

“I think every driver looks forward to coming to Suzuka – the circuit is amazing, and the fans are unbelievable,” Ricciardo said. “After missing the race last year, I’m really looking forward to hitting the track on Friday.“

It hasn’t been the best start to a season for the #3 RB driver as he has been out-qualified by his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, and relatively beaten 2-1 in terms of race performance. 

The only exception to this was the season opener where the team ordered Tsunoda and Ricciardo to swap places, leaving the latter to finish higher. 

Despite this, Ricciardo stated he and the team have pushed ‘hard’ to find improvements in the car ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. 

According to Ricciardo, the team have found areas in the car to improve which will hopefully turn into point-scoring possibilities this weekend. Ricciardo said: 

“After the Australian GP, I managed to spend some time at home in Perth which is always a great reset, plus a quick stop in Tokyo for some wagyu with Yuki!

“The team and I are pushing hard, we’ve put our heads down and found a few areas to develop so we’re hopeful of some progress and points.”

Free Practice 1 kicks off the action at the Japanese GP at 11:30am local time (3:30am BST), on Friday April 5.

That’s all for the article; Ricciardo looking forward to Suzuka return!

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.